A fracture nail for fixing the broken ends of the hip joint portions of a femur and its method of implantation and use are described in U.S. Pat No. 2,937,642. Such a nail should be relatively strong without requiring excessive space and should be relatively easy to assemble, disassemble, adjust and readjust during implantation and removal. An object of this invention is to provide such a nail and retaining plate assembly, which is relatively strong and capable of ready assembly, disassembly, adjustment and readjustment during implantation and removal.